#95 – May 2020 Part 1

The Discussion: The live recording of our monthly astronomy show to provide a bit of extra entertainment and interactivity while people are cooped up at home sitting out the coronavirus.

We discuss a burgeoning love-hate relationship with Starlink, Jeni being the BBC’s go to person for Starlink and meteor showers, and Apollo 13 filling up Twitter timelines and giving us a bit of a respite from coronavirus

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have:

A round up of astronomy-based April fools gags found in research papers

Hubble marks its 30th birthday

Fomalhaut b might not be a planet after all

Centaurs might well be asteroids from other star systems

And Pluto looks to have had a ‘hot start’

Main News story: Earth 2.0 found in old ignored data.

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Ursa Major with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round up of the solar system views on offer in May.

Guide to the Electromagnetic Spectrum: In this series we take a look at the electromagnetic spectrum, what, it is, what is shows us and why it’s so important to astronomers. This month we explain the sub-millimetre and far infrared part of the spectrum and its relevance to astronomy.

Q&A: How do scientists work out the trajectories for putting satellites in orbit around other bodies, or on trajectories that take them past numerous objects? From our good friend Kevin Morgan in the UK.